Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Receives $204.29 Average Price Target from Analysts

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.29.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NXST. Guggenheim cut their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total transaction of $119,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,115,511.75. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $8,312,507.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at $106,203,582.54. This represents a 7.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 146,448 shares of company stock valued at $23,828,076. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 57.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,747,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 22.0% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 39.1% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST stock opened at $159.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $167.43 and a 200-day moving average of $167.51. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. Nexstar Media Group has a 12-month low of $147.25 and a 12-month high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is 39.10%.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc operates as a diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across the television and digital platforms in the United States. It owns, operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to various markets; and offers television programming services.